Purpose: To leam to read a fly ball. Developing an outfielder at a young age is a good softball fielding tip.

Procedure: You will need a racquetball racket, approximately 10 soft-covered sponge-type balls, and gloves. All of the players, who have been assigned numbers, and one of the coaches go to right field. A coach or an assistant coach goes to home plate with a racket and a bucket of soft-covered balls. The coach supervising in the outfield calls out a number. The coach at home plate hits the ball into right field as high as he or she can. The player whose numberis called tries to catch the ball.

Repeat the drill until each player’s number is called.

Youth players have a very hard time catching fly balls. This drill if followed correctly, improves a player’s ability to catch fly balls. When catching a fly ball, a fielder’s first step is usually back.The fielder must be able to anticipate where the ball will land. The fielder should catch the ball with two hands. Soft-covered balls are difficult to catch because they tend to pop out of players’ gloves. Therefore, players should not be discouraged if early in the drill they have trouble squeezing the ball into the glove.

Purpose:To develop proper technique for fielding short hops. Repetition of training will help master a certain skill. Building confidence through perfecting a skill will help in mental training as well

Procedure: You will need one softball per player, gloves, and caps. Divide the team into pairs. Players form two lines 10 to 20 feet apart with pairs positioned across from each other. Everyone kneels on two knees. There should be at least five feet between each player in line.When the coach yells, “Throw.” the players bounce their balls to their partners, who field them on one hop.Repeat the drill until the predetermined time is up. Next, each player puts his cap approximately three feet in front of her. On the “go” command the players try to hit their partners’ caps with the balls. The ball should arrive after one hop.

Fielding short hops is one of the most difficult concepts for youth players to master. This drill accustoms players to the short hop. Practicing in the kneeling position forces players to focus on the bouncing ball. In the traditional upright set position, players tend to turn their heads before the ball reaches the glove. Players should keep their eyes on the ball just as they would when practicing catching fly balls short-Hop drill. The players must ‘look the ball” into their gloves.

Variation

Two players stand facing each other and take turns throwing short hops to one another. Players earn points for throwing beyond the receiver’s reach or for missing the ball. The first player to reach five points loses the game.

Purpose: To develop techniques for relaying a softball from the outfield to the infield. Don’t forget to remind the outfield to communicate with infield when Coaching softball

Procedure: This drill will need two buckets of softball, six empty plastic buckets, gloves time. Divide the players into two teams, station, one team and a coach in right center, and the otter team and a coach in left center. Each group has a bucket of hardballs. On home plate, stack six empty plastic buckets into a pyramid. Place one player from each team in the infield.

The teams alternate turns. The coach throws the ball high behind the outfielder, preferably hitting the outfield fence. The outfielder turns, locates the ball, runs to it, picks it up, turns, and throws it to the infielder. The infielder pivots after the catch, and throws the ball toward the buckets, trying to knock down as many as possible. The outfielder becomes the infielder, and the infielder goes to the end of the line in the outfield.

Emphasize these four points:

The infielder waves his hands over his head as the outfielder prepares to throw the ball.

The infielder then makes a target for the outfielder with the arms extended at shoulder height.

The ball should hit the infielder at shoulder height.

The infielder must pivot to the glove side whsn turning to throw. The term “glove side” is used rather than “right” or ‘left” because right-handed and left-handed players turn opposite directions before throwing.

Variation:

Use a garbage can lying on its side instead of buckets. In this case, the infielder must throw the ball into the garbage can after the relay.

Purpose: To develop quickness and proper catching and throwing techniques. Coaching softball entails practicing all important skills to be ready for any game situation.

Procedure: You will need one softball for each pair of players and gloves. Divide the team into pairs. Kids in each pair should be of similar age and skill level. Each pair stands 25 to 30 feet apart, facing each other.

For safety purposes, make sure there is at least seven feet between each pair. On the “go” command, partners throw a ball back and forth as fast as they can while keeping their throws under control, After 10, 15, or 20 seconds, the coach yells, “Stop.” The players keep track of the number of successful catches they make within the allotted time. Award l0 points for 10 successful catches. After each round, players can move back two or three steps. This game can be played up to any number of points.

This drill teaches young players how to get the ball out of the glove quickly before throwing However, you should reinforce the idea that rushing the throw often results in errors and misplays. Players drop balls during this drill if they try to take the ball out of their glove before they have a proper grip. Also emphasize that players must have control of the ball before throwing. The person catching the ball should present a chest high target for her partner.

Procedure: You will be needing one bucket, 20 to 30 softball and gloves. Players assemble in two lines, one at the third-base position and the other at the shortstop position. Setup a row of softballs in front of each line of players. Send two players to first base with an empty bucket. One player is the first baseman and the other is the backup first baseman. On the “go command, the first person in line at third base runs to the closest ball, picks it up, and throws it to first base. After the throw, the player goes to the end of the shortstop line. The coach gives the go command to the first person in the shortstop line, who runs to the closest ball, throws it to first base, then goes to the end of the third-base line.

This drill can be done more quickly if the coach gives the “go” command to the next player as soon as the previous player throws the ball. The first baseman receives the throws from the third-base and shortstop positions and places the balls in the bucket.

Purpose: To develop the basic mechanics for fielding a ground ball and following it with an accurate throw. This is a basic softball fielding tip to help you when fielding touch ground balls

Procdure: This drill will need one softball, gloves and bucket of softballs, and cones. Set up two cones 8 to 15 feet apart depending on he age and ability of players. One player stands between the cones, another player serves as backup. The coach throws grounders between the cones, and the player tries to stop the ball with his glove before it gets behind him, just as a hockey goalie would sweep away a puck. Award a point for every ball the player stops. Coaches can practice this drill with either a predetermined number of throws to each player or with a time limit. Once done, the fielder moves to the back of the line, the backup becomes the fielder, and the next person in line becomes the backup.

This is one of the few drills that teaches players to stop tie ball rather than catch it. Learning to knock the ball down while keeping it in front of the body is just as important as catching it with a glove. In game situations many hits are too hard to handle flawlessly; however, with the right mind-set, players can be confident about making the play if they learn to keep tie ball in front of them. This drill also emphasizes the importance of keeping the bail in front of the body if it is mishandled or dropped.

Purpose: To improve throwing accuracy for younger players. Repetition is important when coaching youth softball as to lessen errors.

Procedure: You will need soft-covered softballs, colored masking tape, access to a fence or a wall. On the wall or fence mark off three or four squares with blue painter’s tape, 18 inches by 18 inches. The squares should be about 4 to 6 feet apart from each other. Within the large blue squares mark off smaller squares with white tape. Mark a line on the ground in front of each square. The distance between the line and the box depends on the age and skill level of the players.

Divide the team into as many groups as there are large squares or the fence or wall. Give each player 3 to 5 balls. The first player in each line throws the ball against the fence. Award one point for throwing the ball within the blue square and two points for hitting one of the smaller white squares.